It was close to midday, white clouds hanging above while the sun rose high enough to brighten up the entire Ringwood Town.
It was the usual peaceful morning. Everyone was busy with their work, some traveling toward the north, some toward the south. Among all that, the marketplace was the most bursting place during this time, as it was the rush hour before the shops closed.
It was densely crowded, packed with people purchasing foods that they needed for the day.
Mothers, carrying their children on their backs, were purchasing what they needed to cook to survive that day, while others bargained with the vendors. It was all bustle and hustle—a pure mess with people pushing each other to obtain fresh food as quickly as possible before their neighbors did.
Among the shops, one vegetable vendor was trying his best to sell his vegetables as quickly as possible before they all went bad.
He had cleverly mixed fresh vegetables with close-to-rotting ones and also sprinkled water over them to make them look cleaner and fresher. He needed to sell everything before midday, or else no one would purchase them and everything would go to waste.
"Come here, come here! Fresh vegetables! Only 3 bronze coins per kg!" He desperately yelled to attract customers.
Some arrived, some walked away after checking the vegetables, while most went straight toward the other two neighboring shops.
The vegetable vendor was frustrated, desperate, and utterly helpless.
He could only glare at the large decorative shop directly opposite his own with deep hatred and jealousy.
Looking at the large number of customers surrounding that shop, desperately ordering and purchasing meats, he was filled with bitter envy. The owner of the meat shop had even hired multiple employees to work for him; he was making that much money!
The meat shop vendor calmly met the vegetable owner's glare, which was filled with jealousy and envy. While he maintained a serene look on the outside, within himself he was filled with ecstasy and elation. He was even laughing and mocking the vegetable shop owner in his heart.
His focus swiftly shifted toward the customer in front of him, and with a bright smile, he answered her questions, "Yes, yes, the meats are fresh and freshly brought from the farm early this morning. Buy them before they are sold out!"
That customer quickly ordered some meat, and after taking her order, she walked away toward her home with a bright, happy smile on her face. She felt very happy and satisfied to be able to feed her family fresh meat today, making them feel healthy and strong!
The meat owner smiled, let the customer go, and greeted the next one.
His shop was always hot, and he didn't even need to scream to attract people, as they would always come to buy his products.
Even though most of his meats were just one step away from rotting away!
However, he didn't lie; most of his meats were indeed chopped early this morning, but the animals had been dead for over a week.
His meat was rotting and he knew it, but he had a secret ingredient that would fool anyone into thinking his meats were still fresh, and people would always happily buy them.
Diseases or problems would only appear after years of consumption, while most of the time nothing major would ever surface, as only their internal organs would secretly take the hit and struggle to recover from the damage without them ever noticing anything.
And even if a problem did appear after years of eating meat, most of them had thousands of different places to blame; who could pinpoint and blame it on his meat? And this was only about physiological problems; the subtle psychological changes that would happen over a long time would never cross anyone's mind because people always think that their thoughts are entirely their own!
When husbands would get angry over something quickly and feel like beating or killing someone, who would think that those tasty meats they had been eating since childhood were at fault and held influence? Their wives, children, or colleagues were at fault! They had done 'this' and 'that'; anger was natural, wasn't it?
And the most important thing was, everyone would avoid blaming or even thinking anything negative about meat! How could they blame something that tasted great, gave a massive amount of energy and satisfaction, and required less trouble to cook?
He had a clear advantage over the stupid vegetable vendor. Even the nobles supported him because meat earned them a huge amount of money. All troubles would be suppressed and never spoken about.
The vegetable vendor was a fool who didn't understand how the market worked!
People were always slaves to taste; they didn't understand or give two concerns about what healthy even meant. As long as they survived and had enough energy and a bare minimum of health, who cared what was going on inside their bodies? Moreover, vegetables took too much hard work and a long time to prepare, and they lacked the delicious taste of meat. A complete waste!
The meat vendor gave a disdainful look toward the innocent fool who was screaming his throat out desperately, trying to sell his vegetables.
But he himself was no fool; he knew what kind of garbage he was selling, so he would always secretly send someone to purchase a large amount of vegetables from the opposite shop when the fool reduced the price further out of desperation.
And so he was twice the winner! Healthy food and huge money savings, all together! It was a total win for him.
People were always attracted to wealthy individuals such as himself!
'Mahahaha!' The meat vendor laughed crazily inside his mind. He felt he was the smartest person in the town. No, in the entire world!
But then his head snapped toward another shop that had even more customers than him!
His expression turned ugly.
This was the only shop that made absolutely no sense to him.
Why were so many people purchasing fruits? What's so great about them?!
This neighboring vendor had a decently sized stall and only sold fruits.
The meat vendor couldn't understand what was so good about fruits. Those were filled with only water and barely filled one's stomach, lacking necessary energy and nutrition.
Why were so many people wasting their money purchasing 'water packages'? Just go drink some water if you guys love fruits so much! Spend that money on tasty meats! They would make your families full, happy, strong, and satisfied. The immediate benefits were endless!
Meanwhile, the fruit shop owner had a bright smile on his face as he attended to his customers speedily. Even with multiple workers helping him, he was still lacking hands to attend to this many customers. He had no time to feel either jealousy or ecstasy over someone else's success or misery.
Although fruits tend to go bad quickly, in Ringwood Town, fruits were the hottest products and would always sell in large amounts. All families and individuals in Ringwood Town would definitely eat at least one fruit per day!
In a corner of the fruit shop, two housewives were currently selecting fresh fruits to buy. They had sleeping children behind their backs, tied tightly with long linen ropes like a cross so they wouldn't fall off.
One woman was blonde and the other was brunette.
The blonde smiled at the brunette and began conversing, "I see you are here today as well; do you like fruits that much?"
They had met each other at this exact shop almost every few days. They never got to talk as it was always during rush hour, but today the blonde decided to chat since she had already purchased all she wanted for the day.
The brunette gently smiled back at the blonde and replied while choosing some apples, "Yes and no, but my eldest son and husband always nag about not having enough fruits, so I have to purchase some for them regularly."
"Oh, yours too? For me, it's my nephew and my husband. They want fruits every day; otherwise, they cry and complain like little children," the blonde tittered.
The brunette also laughed softly, "Yes, all due to the 'Blue Eyed Demon'."
The blonde's eyes flashed. She immediately turned on her gossip mode and whispered, "Do you know why they even call him the 'Blue Eyed Demon'?"
"Yes, I heard he once beat up three good-for-nothings in the tavern. Some say it was in the blink of an eye, though many still find it unbelievable."
The blonde's eyes sparkled with an unknown light as she continued to ask in a suppressed voice, "Yes, but do you know the reason for that event?"
"Reason? I heard it was over some insult toward someone; I am not sure," the brunette answered with little interest.
"Hehe, you won't believe it, but my friend's friend's daughter works in the orphanage. I heard it was due to two women. And after defeating those three pieces of trash, he 'claimed' those women right there within the tavern! So manly!"
Looking at the flushed blonde, the brunette asked with a strange tone, "Do you even know what his age was back then?"
"No. Who cares?" The blonde shrugged. "He was probably fifteen or sixteen, right? Let's leave that aside; have you heard about the other event that solidified his title as the 'Blue Eyed Demon'?"
The brunette thought a little, and only the latest event came to her mind due to her husband's constant bragging.
She answered with an uncertain tone, "It happened a few months ago, right? Where he and the two girls from the orphanage beat up five or six extremely powerful and scary people right outside the town's northern gate? Let me tell you, my husband was there and he still hasn't stopped bragging. He said the fight ended in the blink of an eye and all those scary people lay dead before they even knew it." She used a worshipful tone as she said that; after all, it was still the talk of the town even after so many months had passed.
The blonde smiled. She had all the details of that event, including some spicy truths. However, that wasn't the correct answer.
She shook her finger in denial after the brunette finished speaking and corrected her, "No, that was not because of that. It happened right on this very street and within the market. He was so cool and hot back then!" she said with a reminiscing tone.
"Right, there was that as well. I heard another three good-for-nothings were beaten by him, and that time he didn't even lift a single finger!" The brunette nodded in agreement. She still found it hard to believe, but there were many witnesses back then, so there had to be some truth to it.
The blonde's body shivered a little, and her face turned a deep shade of red. She secretly swallowed her saliva.
All this didn't escape the brunette's eyes, and she was completely bemused by what made the blonde act like that all of a sudden.
The blonde woman whispered, "I-I was actually there back then! I was newly married and was buying some things, and it just so happened!" She paused, her face turning even redder, before she continued to speak softly, "The entire street was suddenly emptied back then. His monstrous aura reverberated across the entire street."
"From my perspective, he suddenly became taller, powerful, superior, strong, hot, sexy, and amazing!"
"It is hard to describe. Back then, a strange fear took over me, same with everyone present. It was almost as if a scary demon had suddenly descended; the very atmosphere in the street changed drastically. Suddenly, there was this instinctive feeling within me that I must leave, and leave the place without making a single sound, or else my soul would be devoured!"
"He was so scary and soul-shuddering back then," she said with an admiring look, though something else was mixed within it. Then, her face turning deep shades of red, she confessed in a low voice, "To be honest, I even turned a little wet back then." She giggled embarrassingly.
The brunette gazed at the blonde strangely. She decided not to ask if she was feeling that way right now as well and chose to divert the topic. She coughed and asked with a straight face, "Do you know what the Blue Eyed Demon's favorite fruit is?"
The blonde tilted her head and thought deeply. She then answered with an unsure tone, "I heard from my hidden source that he loves mangoes, bananas, and apples? Hm... and also nuts? Are they considered fruits?"
The brunette smiled, "I also heard so, and he also likes honey. I even heard that he once told the workers of the orphanage that if they eat a lemon every day, they will live healthy and strong, and no diseases will ever catch them, since it seems disease and poor health fear the sour taste of lemon. Because of that, my husband and eldest son always drink lemon juice every morning, no matter how much their faces twist into weird shapes." She laughed but sighed helplessly inside, as they forced her to take a lemon each day as well.
The blonde woman also sighed, but over the expenses, "Honey is still affordable, but nuts are too expensive. I heard his favorite light breakfast is filled with bananas and nuts. The orphanage really took good care of their kids."
"Yes, they do," the brunette agreed wholeheartedly. "As for nuts, I heard they are expensive because they are imported from a village to the northwest."
While they were chatting and laughing happily, their children slept soundly behind them. But suddenly, at this moment, the entire bright sky darkened, almost as if it had suddenly turned into night.
Both children woke up and started crying.
"Hush..." Both women tried to comfort their children. The blonde, while appeasing her child, turned toward the sky while complaining, "Seriously, is it going to rain all of a sudden? It was such clear weather too..." Suddenly, she stopped mid-sentence and froze.
The brunette found the blonde's reaction strange, so she followed her gaze toward the sky and similarly froze.
It was as bright as before; it was a clear sky, and the sun was still shining brightly, yet at the same time, everything seemed to have darkened. From her vision, it was as if the entire bright day had suddenly lost all its radiance.
Before the brunette could make any sense of the strange situation, she suddenly dropped to the ground as if someone had cut the thread holding her up. Not only her, but the blonde, the children, the adults, and even the dogs, cats, and birds across the entire town and its surroundings dropped to the ground as if the entire town had been killed instantly. Not a single person even realized what was happening before they collapsed.
The bustling town, which had been filled with noise and life, was silenced in the blink of an eye.